Central Ballester saw off Yupanqui 2:0 in the Primera C regular season on Saturday evening. The hosts secured three points at home, moving within two of the visitors in the table. Both sides had played 26 matches by then, sitting close together in mid-table.
Gonzalez opened the scoring in the thirty-eighth minute, giving Central Ballester the lead they would not relinquish. Alejo doubled the advantage in the eighty-third, timing his finish to silence any late hopes Yupanqui might have nursed.
The statistics told an uneven story. Yupanqui enjoyed 51 per cent possession and registered 111 attacks, yet managed only one shot on target all evening. Central Ballester, with 49 per cent possession, hit four shots on target and converted two. The visitors' nine shots off target suggested they were wandering for structure.
Before the match, Yupanqui sat ninth with 33 points, Central Ballester eleventh with 31. The result keeps the gap at two, though the visitors lost ground in terms of confidence. Central Ballester had ended three previous fixtures in a row with 0:0 draws, so this performance marked a shift.
For Yupanqui, the clean-sheet run came to an end. They had not conceded since their 1:2 defeat to Canuelas on the third of August. Central Ballester now hold their nerve at home, which is more than they could say about last season.